In August 2007, photographer Laney Griner took a photo of her 11-month-old son Sam at the beach. Sam was clenching a fistful of sand with a look of intense triumph on his face. She posted it to Flickr. The image spread like wildfire, becoming the template for celebrating small victories: “finally got the last parking spot,” “texted my crush back without typos.”
In 2015, Success Kid served a real purpose. Sam’s father needed a kidney transplant and the family couldn’t afford it. They launched a GoFundMe campaign using the meme. It raised over $100,000 in days. Success Kid is a rare story of a meme subject benefiting materially from going viral — proof that the internet can be generous when it wants to be.
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